Fielding, feelings unite foreign cultures

   Gwinnett County, the great melting pot. So they say. Sure, our residents represent over seventy cultures. Sure, for years I taught ESOL at Lilburn Middle and Gwinnett Tech, in classes with nearly equal representation of foreign cultures. Sure, a strip mall near my home had restaurants featuring Indian, Mexican, Italian and Southern cuisine. 

   But things are changing. People are settling into their own communities. A strip mall on Lawrenceville Highway houses almost all Indian-owned businesses. The H-Mart complex on Pleasant Hill Road is entirely Korean. And that strip mall I mentioned above is now entirely Hispanic.

   In my subbing and public speaking experiences, I’ve seen schools take on new faces, mainly homogenous ones of Hispanics, Asians or Indians. Lilburn Middle School which boasted students from over 60 countries when I worked there in the early 90’s is now almost all Hispanic. 

   What’s called a melting pot is more like a pizza. Cultural diversity exists, but each ethnic group tends to maintain its own identity, more like toppings sitting on pizza than spices simmering in stew. Except with baseball. Now that’s a culture of its own, especially for the Norcross Baseball Club, a cross-cultural connection for the county.

   Players from all over the world blend their talents and play as a unit, regardless of their ethnicity or experience.

   Second baseman Jose Silverio, a native of the Dominican Republic and a 2005 graduate of Norcross High School said, “It’s more diverse than high school. It’s a different feeling. It’s the mixture of people from different cultures and different levels of knowledge of baseball. I learn new stuff everyday.”

   “We’re a special team,” said owner Gerald Barnes. “We’re the town team of historic Norcross, America’s baseball town which produced four major leaguers and at least 20 minor leaguers.”

   While Wingo-Carlisle Field in Norcross awaits renovation, the team will play a special Fourth of July game at Duluth’s Franklin Field. The event begins at 12:45 p.m., with the first pitch at 1:00 p.m. (Info: norcrossbaseball@yahoo.com or 770-416-6592)

   “These people in Duluth are marvelous,” said Mr. Barnes. “They are so helpful. Volunteers will line and drag the field and handle the concessions. The DHS baseball coach Bobby Link was a minor league pitcher for seven years and was most helpful in making arrangements.”

   “What a true American feeling,” he went on. “Fourth of July, small town, baseball, Americans from all different backgrounds. That’s what America’s all about.”

   Mr. Barnes insisted I talk to G.B. Kim, who played pro in Korea for 12 years.

   “No, my English not good,” said Kim.

   Then how do you communicate in the game?” I asked.

   Mr. Barnes interjected. “We have universal baseball signals.”

   “More than that,” said Kim, with his hand on his heart. “Feelings. No matter how many languages on the team, anything you want to say about baseball you can say with feelings.”

   I feel he’s right.

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